Two graphics cards compatible? GEForce 9400 GT and GEForce FX 5200

Hi all,

    I am using a Dell Optiplex 755 computer running Windows XP and I recently bought a GEForce 9400 GT to use CUDA on. My computer doesn't have an integerated graphics processor on the Motherboard and it only has 1 PCI express slot. So I was thinking of getting an old graphics card in the FX series that I can out into the PCI (not PCI express) slot available.. 

    My question is, will those two work together with the FX rendering graphics and 9400 GT doing the computation.? Are there any issues that I should check on my computer to ensure that the two cards will be compatible and can be used together? Will I need to have a special driver to use two graphics cards? I just want to be sure I can use it before I buy the card..


     Really appreciate ur help on this.. 

Thanks,

Avinash

You don’t need anything special to run 2 seperate cards as long as only one is going to handle the graphics. In windows under the settings tab on display manager you just drop down the device bar and select which card you want to use. You can also set in your bios what card to enable and take it off “auto”. The cuda programing will only run on the 9 series and your graphics will be rendered on the FX.

Excellent… so I can go ahead now. Thank you so much for you help… :)

Hi,

  I have run into a problem. My new graphics card is plugged into the PCI slot. But for some reason, it doesn't work. The device manager says that the card is unable to start. But the card works if I pull out the other PCI express card that I currently have on the system. But if I put in the PCI express card again, it seems to override the new card. There isn't any option in the Dell BIOS to pick which card should be my primary device, so I ll have to pick that from the device manager. 

  Have any of you had this kind of a problem before..? Any ideas on how I should get around this?

  I can only think of 2 things.. Either there is a limitation with the BIOS which by default makes the card in the PCI express slot the primary display device. I already know that there is that kind of an override which doesn't allow me to use the integrated graphics on the motherboard if there is a card plugged into the PCI express slot. This was the reason I had to buy a seperate card in the first place. Could that be happening? Is there someway I can get around it?

  Or else, there isn't enough power supply available and so the new card doesn't start cos of insufficient power. My power supply is only 305 W and the 9400 GT apparently uses 50W of power.. I couldnt find power consumption specs for the FX 5200. Is that what that could be happening? 

   Is there some way to atleast figure out what exactly is going wrong? Would really appreciate any advice here..

best,

Avinash